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The safest/simplest route

The safest/simplest route would likely be the Honda product, dealer installed. They would verify your current battery can't hold a charge, and the new one is intalled correctly.

You've probably noticed the OEM battery is quite small. I wonder if an aftermarket battery would be available with those dimensions, *and* be compatibable.

There was one horror story here: someone installed a battery with the negative/positive leads reversed, and did damage to one or more components.

If you're reasonably careful you shouldn't have a problem finding and installing the battery yourself, but why bother: the labour is very minor, you shouldn't get dinged too much by a reputable dealer.

Mendel does have a point

Mendel does have a point concerning the use of battery of different capacity. The use of an alternate unit will not not be an optimal solution since it will place different loading and charging requirements on the system- not to mention that it will be heavier.

Situations vary a fair amount from car to car and owner to owner, but for some there is a loss observable in FE or inability to maintain the nominal safe charge which leads to a shorter 12V battery life. Once you understand how the DC-DC converter works in the HCH-1 and HCH-2 you'll appreciate a good choice and the money it may save.

Just to be sure, are you

Just to be sure, are you referring to the 12V battery or the hybrid's battery pack?
If I recall correctly they've replaced 12V batteries on the HCH before... unless of course, they have recently realized that they do not actually have a suitable electric equivalent and have since re-evaluated their policies. However sad that would be, it would not surprise me.

ok, i have moved to the

ok, i have moved to the caribbean with my 2004 hybrid (read: no honda dealers, mechanics or spare parts for 400 miles). it appears that the 12v battery will not hold a charge (charging the 12v battery gets me 2 maybe 3 starts and then there is not enough juice to start it again). the indicator on the battery shows blue with the red circle (but if i tilt the battery a little it shows "distilled water". there is a screw top in the top of the battery. is the fix as easy as taking off the screw top, adding distilled water and replacing the screw? dave